Anyone else surprised the game hasn't been spotted in the wild yet?

[BiffMan]

Perhaps due to the size of the package or the small lead time from going gold, but it seems odd that we're a week out and haven't heard the usual sightings of people seeing it in the stockroom at Walmart or out on the floor at Target but not for sale, etc.

Guess I'd been spoiled by past success at getting the games early so was kinda hoping to see it showing up by now... ;)

Thus far:
GH2-PS2: 11 days early
GH2-360: 7 days
GH2:80s: 5 days
RB-360: ?

[peachpunker63]

gh3 was like a week and a half early, and im sorta surprised and not surprised no one has it yet

[KingofQUEEN48]

umm there was... someone had a thread about it like 3 hours ago...

[admanimal]

umm there was... someone had a thread about it like 3 hours ago...

That was just the game alone and the story was questionable at best.

[masterx1918]

the game hasn't been shipped yet, so....

[Xanthous]

the game hasn't been shipped yet, so....

YOUR MOM hasn't shipped yet.

I'm sorry. It's late, and I've never been more excited for this game.

Six...more...days...

[Apples]

Been surprised by this myself. I can't say I know a reason for it either... you'd think some moron stockboy would have screwed up and let the cat out of the bag.

[Eman311]

the game hasn't been shipped yet, so....

It might've, but i guess we would've heard about iy by now.

[BiffMan]

the game hasn't been shipped yet, so....

It's almost certainly started shipping by now, just may not have arrived anywhere yet.

Logic as follows:
-Stores will need it by Monday for the midnight launches and to make sure it's in place for Tuesday
-They're not going to chance it not getting there on Monday, so they'll aim to have it prior to that.
-It won't arrive on Sunday
-It's a large package so in order for the big box stores to save on shipping (Walmart is particularly "demanding" on that count), they won't go for a Saturday delivery and will almost certainly be shipping via ground.

Therefore Friday will be the latest target date for most stores to get it in stock, particularly the larger ones. And if they're aiming for Friday via ground delivery, that means it should have started being sent out Monday or Tuesday at the latest and at least some places will get it earlier depending on their physical proximity to wherever the shipping location(s) is(are).

I'm just surprised that with a box this big, that it hasn't been trickling out over the course of last week as well since it seems prohibitive to manage to ship multiple 10s of thousands of a 25lb box from the main warehouse(s) all in a day or two.

In short: Me want now and am impatient and coming up with elaborate rationale for why I might get lucky and find it this week... ;)

[admanimal]

In short: Me want now and am impatient and coming up with elaborate rationale for why I might get lucky and find it this week... ;)

Here's some more rationale for you:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Rock-Band-Special-Edition-Xbox-360-IN-HAND-RIGHT-NOW_W0QQitemZ170169190774QQihZ007QQcategoryZ62053Q QssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

[BiffMan]

Here's some more rationale for you:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Rock-Band-Special-Edition-Xbox-360-IN-HAND-RIGHT-NOW_W0QQitemZ170169190774QQihZ007QQcategoryZ62053Q QssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Wish I could see the receipts just a smidge closer/clearer to see where he managed to find it... :)

[admanimal]

Wish I could see the receipts just a smidge closer/clearer to see where he managed to find it... :)

I asked the guy and he just said a major retailer.

[BiffMan]

Hmmm.... I'd think not Best Buy, Target, or Walmart since all 3 of them have register controls in place to keep sales folk from accidentally selling it early (more or less idiot-proof because they know who they have working for them), and if it was Circuit City you'd see it on their website, so my money is on Toys R Us or K-Mart, but oh the fun of speculating... :)

[admanimal]

I dunno, it could have been BB or Walmart. Both were able to sell demos, which apparently have the same SKU as the retail version (since it's the same box), so maybe the register isn't blocking them.

[Feigned]

I consider an "in the wild" shot to be one that actually shows the full game being played. Kudos to Harmonix for keeping it under wraps this long.

While I'd like to get my hands on an early copy just as much as the next guy, it's nice to see a game that doesn't get leaked out weeks in advance.